Surface active agents derived from aromatic aldehyde intermediates



United States SURFACE ACTIVE AGENTS DERIVED FROM AROMATIC ALDEHYDE INTERMEDIATES No Drawing. Application November 7, 1955 a Serial No. 545,518

12 Claims. (Cl. 260-505) This invention relates to novel compositions of matter possessing surface active properties and to the process for their manufacture. More specifically, the invention concerns alkylaryl-substituted alkyl sulfonates formed by a particular reaction mechanism involving an alkyl aromatic aldehyde as an intermediate reactant, an aldol condensation of the aldehyde with a nitro compound and finally, condensation of the resulting product with an inorganic bisulfite to form the present sulfonates, in accordance with procedures hereinafter more fully described.

One object of this invention is to provide a process for the manufacture of a novel class of sulfonated compounds wherein the sulfonate radical occupies a position on an alkyl side chain attached to the aromatic nucleus of an alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon. Another object of this invention is to produce surface active agents, particularly detergents, which are soluble in water. Still another object of the invention is to provide a class of detergents characterized as substituted alkylaryl-alkyl sulfonates, the surface active properties of which may be varied to correspond to optimum surface activity for a particular application by the introduction into the structure of the compounds of suitable substituents such as alkyl groups, as well as others.

One embodiment of the invention relates to a process for the production of a surface active agent which comprises reacting a formylating agent with an alkyl aro matic hydrocarbon containing a nuclear hydrogen atom capable of substitution, an aryl nucleus selected from the monoand bicyclic aromatic radicals and not more than 1 alkyl side chain per molecule containing from 5 to about 18 carbon atoms, effecting the reaction at conditions resulting in the replacement of said hydrogen atom with a formyl radical, condensing the resulting aromatic aldehyde with nitro-alkane containing from 1 to 5 carbon atoms to form a beta-nitroalkenyl-alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon intermediate and thereafter condensing said intermediate with an inorganic bisulfite to introduce a sulfonate radical into the nitro-vinyl substituent on the aryl nucleus.

A more specific embodiment of the invention relates to a compound having the structure:

wherein Ar is an aromatic hydrocarbon group selected from the monoand dinuclear radicals, R is an alkyl group containing from 5 to about 9 carbon atoms when Ar is bicyclic and from about 8 to about 18 carbon atoms when Ar is monocyclic, R is an alkyl group containing from 1 to 3 carbon atoms, R is a radical selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl containing from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, n is a whole number having a value from 0 to 2, X is a radical selected from the group atent consisting of nitro, amino and mono-alkylamino containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms per alkylamino group and M is an electropositive group selected from the alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, ammonium and alkyl ammonium ions.

The products of this invention are formed by the following general procedure, wherein an alkyl aromatic aldehyde is condensed with a nitroalkane, preferably nitromethane, to form an alkylaryl substituted nitroethylene as an intermediate which is thereafter condensed with an inorganic bisulfite to form the corresponding alkylaryl nitroalkyl sulfonate as a product of the reaction or as an intermediate in the production of a reduced nitro derivative having the structure of an amine sulfonate. The starting material in this series of reactions is an alkyl aromatic aldehyde which may be derived by any suitable method of synthesis but is preferably formed by a method of synthesis which involves adding a formyl radical to the nucleus of an alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon having a replaceable hydrogen atom. The initial starting material'is thus an alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon, usually prepared by synthetic means, although also available from many naturally occurring sources, such as specific boiling range fractions of crude petroleum or its conversion products, said hydrocarbon being of either monoor dinuclear structure, that is, either a benzene or naphthalene hydrocarbon ,having a long chain alkyl substituent, which in the case of the naphthalene derivatives, contains at least 5, up to about 9 carbon atoms per group and in the case of the benzene hydrocarbons is an alkyl group containing at least 8, up to about 18 carbon atoms per alkyl group. Additional short chain alkyl groups may be present on the aromatic nucleus, generally and preferably, not more than 2 in number, which may be methyl,

ethyl, or propyl radicals, leaving at least one replaceable nuclear hydrogen atom on the aryl nucleus, subject to replacement by a formyl group. Specific alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon starting materials are preferably,

formed in a preliminary stage of the process by alkylating an aromatic hydrocarbon with an olefinic alkylating agent corresponding in chain length to the desired long chain alkyl group, in the presence of an acidic alkylation catalyst such as sulfuric acid, substantially anhydrous hydrofiuoric acid, an aluminum halide, etc. including such aromatic compounds as nonylbenzene, nonyltoluene, decylbenzene, decyltoluene, decylxylene, dodecylbenzene, dodecyltoluene, pentadecylbenzene, pentadecyltoluene, octadecylbenzene, octadecyltoluene, amyldimethylnaphthalene, hexylnaphthalene, octylnaphthalene, octylmethylnaphthalene, diamylnaphthalene, and other homologs within the limits expressed above.

In accordance with the process of the present invention, a formyl radical is introduced on the aromatic nucleus by means of a condensation type of reaction to form an intermediate capable of reacting with a nitroalkane in an intermediate stage of the present process. A convenient method of introducing a formyl radical on the aromatic nucleus comprises reacting the alkylaryl hydrocarbon starting material with a mixture of carbonmonoxide and a hydrogen halide at reaction conditions suitable to effect the condensation with one of the nuclear hydrogen atoms. This reaction is preferably effected at a superatmospheric pressure, generally not in excess of about 1000 atmospheres, since pressure usually favors the reaction. The condensation is effected in the presence of a Friedel-Crafts metal halide-type catalyst, such as a zinc halide, aluminum halide, ferric halide and others, one of the preferred being anhydrous aluminum chloride, particularly the halide corresponding to the hydrogen halide utilized in the reaction. The above type of formylation reaction generally results in the introduction of a: formyl'group in a position on the aryl nucleus para to the" Patented Feb. 25, 1958 long chain alkyl group, when the starting material is an alkylbenzene hydrocarbon.

The aromatic aldehyde prepared as indicated above is converted to a nitroalcohol by condensing the. previously formed aldehyde with a nitroalkane in an aldol-type condensation reaction. preferablyin the presence of an alkaline material which catalyzes the condensation reaction. The product formed as a result of the aldol condensation between a nitroalkane and the previously formed aldehyde is a nitro-alcohol having the structure of a beta-nitrohydroxyethyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbon containing an hydroxyl group on the carbon atom formerly constituting the formyl radical of the aldehyde and a nitro group on the alpha-carbon atom of the nitroalkane condensed therewith, in accordance with the following equation:

The condensation is preferably carried out in a sealed reactor which may be stirred or otherwise agitated in order to mix the-normally insoluble phases when an aqueous alkali solution which is utilized as a condensation catalyst. The reaction proceeds readily at temperatures of from about 50 to about 150 C., although in the upper portions of the latter range the intermediate alcohol formed, as a result of the condensation reaction undergoes dehydration to yield the-desired nitro-substituted alkenyl radical as the end product of the aldol-type condensation. Nitromethane is commonly utilized as the nitroalkane reactant, although with the proper choice of reaction conditions, usually at higher temperatures and higher pressures, higher molecular weight nitroalkanes containing up to about 5 carbon atoms per molecule, such as nitroethane, l-nitropropane, 2-nitropropane and the nitrobutanes may also be utilized in the condensation reaction to form the corresponding homologous nitroalcohol derivatives. A molar excess of the nitroatkane reactant is preferably utilized in the reaction in order to increase the yield of nitroalcohol product from a given charge of the alkyl aromatic aldehyde reactant.

The nitroalcohol normally formed as the product of the aldol condensation of the aldehyde with nitromethane readily undergoes dehydration to form the corresponding nitroalkenyl derivative of the alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon. Thus, as indicated above, when 'the'aldol condensation reaction is run at a relatively high temperature the d esired nitroalkenyl derivative may be formed directly as the primary product of thereaction by a eombinedcondensation-dehydration reaction, rather than an intermediate nitroalcohol. Whenthe aldol condensationris .effected at lower reaction temperatures, the nitroalcohol product may be subsequentlyheated,--for example during the distillation of the crude product, to form the nitroalkenyl-substituted alkyl aromatic hydrocarbonproduct desired for use in the subsequent stages of the proces. These reactions may be represented by the following which ordinarily occurs .duringthea'ldol condensation reaction without the intermediate isolation of'the nitro-- alcohol formed as the resultof the condensation reaction, the loss of water from the nitroalcohol being the result of activation of the methylene (-CH hydrogen atoms and the hydroxyl group by the ;nitro group and the aromatic ring, respectively. In general, dehydra-- tion of the nitroalcohol occurs at temperatures-of from about 120 to about 200 C. and sincethe intermediate nitroalcohol whenseparated from the aldol condensation reaction boils, at a temperature generally above the latter.

range, distillation of the n' roalcohol intermediate product of the aldol condensation reaction in any event effects dehydration thereof to the nitroalkenyl-cyclic hydrocarbon-substituted alkane. The distillation is preferably effected at a subatmospheric pressure in order to reduce the boiling point and eliminate-the tendency of the product to undergo cracking and other decomposition'reactions at higher distillation temperatures.

The nitroalkenyl-cyclic hydrocarbon substituted alkane formed as a result ofthe condensation of the nitroalkane with the alkyl-substituted aromatic aldehyde, followed by the dehydration of the intermediate alcohol is capable of undergoing an addition-condensation reaction with alkaline bi-sulfite salts at the .olefinic linkage between the carbon atoms alpha and beta, respectively, to the nitro group and thereby 'form sulfonate derivatives which comprises one species of the products of this invention or an intermediate which may befurther reacted with suitable reagents to modify the properties of the'resultant' surface active compound. This stage of the present process may be represented for sodium bisulfite as the alkaline sulfite salt by the following equation:

wherein R, R, R n, and Ar correspond to radicals hereinbefore defined.

Suitable alkaline bisulfite compounds utilizable in the above condensation reaction include the alkali metal bi- .sulfites, such as sodium bisulfite, potassium bisulfite, and lithium bisulfite, and ammonium bisulfite. The condensation of the alkaline bisulfite with the nitroalkenyl-cyclic hydrocarbon-substituted alkane occurs at relatively mild reaction conditions, generally .at'ternperatures of from 7 about 50 to about 100 C. in aqueous solution and it is generally preferable to employ an excess of the alkali bisulfite reactant in order to insure substantially complete conversion to the sulfonate derivative, the excess alkaline bisulfite being separated, if desired, from the reaction mixture following completion of the reaction by extracting the organic product from the reaction mixture with a suitable organic solvent such as methanol, ethanol, acetone or othersolvent in which the hydrocarbon nitrosulfonate is soluble. The product of the reaction is generallya salt-like material which is readily soluble in water and which hassurface active properties, including detergency, when the size of the hydrophobic hydrocarbon groups are appropriately selected in the various reaction stages to produce a water-soluble material when combined with the hydroph'ilicsulfonate radical during the conversion thereof to derivatives having greater watersolubility and surfaceactivity, the latter products comprising other species :of the present invention. Thus, the nitro radical substituted on. the alkyl side chain of. the cyclic hydrocarbon' nucleus which also'bears the sul- 'fonate radical may be reduced by hydrogenation and the amino groupformed thereby either retained in the structureof the product or converted to various derivative groups whichjncreas e or decrease the hydrophilic portion of the molecule, ashereinafter described.

The reduction of the nitro radical of the preceding condensation reaction product is readily effected by hydrogenationa procedure well-known in' the art. Ace 4 venient method of effecting such reduction comprises dis-" solving the nitro-substituted sulfonate in a suitable solvent therefore, such as ethyl alcohol and charging the resulting solution into a pressure autoclave, together with a hydrogenation catalyst, such as an alumina supported nickel composite, a platinum or palladium catalyst supported on a suitable solid material such as alumina or kieselguhr, or other recognized hydrogenation catalyst and subjecting the resulting mixture to hydrogen pressures of from 1 to about 100 atmospheres, at temperatures of from about 50 to about 150 C., while the contents of the autoclave are stirred to expose the charging stock and catalyst to the hydrogen atmosphere. Hydrogenation under the above conditions generally results in a quantitative conversion of the nitro-substituted sulfonate to the corresponding amino-substituted sulfonate which may be separated from the reaction mixture by extraction with water, or other suitable solvent. The reduction may also be efiected at conditions which result in partial or complete saturation of the aromatic nucleus, thereby converting the product to a naphthene derivative, contemplated within the scope of the term cyclic hydrocarbon group, herein specified.

In the event that the amino-substituted sulfonate, prepared as indicated by the above hydrogenation procedure, is to be converted into a product more highly soluble in such organic solvents as hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, etc., the amino group of the above previously formed product may be alkylated with a ketone, an aldehyde, an alkyl halide, an aryl halide or other alkylating agent condensable with the amino group to form the corresponding secondary and/or tertiary amines resulting from the substitution of 1 or 2 alkyl or aryl radicals, respectively, on the amino group. One of the preferred methods for effecting the later amino-alkylation reaction comprises condensing the aminosulfonate with an alkyl halide containing from 1 to about Scarbon atoms, such as methylchloride, rnethylbromide, methyliodide, ethylchloride, ethylbromide, ethyliodide or other alkyl halide having from 1 to 5 carbon atoms, for example by heating the aminosulfonate intermediate with the alkyl halide at temperatures of from about 70 to about 200 C. and thereafter converting the resulting alkyl ammonium halide product to the alkyl amine by contacting the product with an aqueous alkaline solution, such as a 20% caustic soda solution. If a product more highly soluble'in water is desired as the ultimate product of the present invention, the alkyl ammonium halide resulting from the condensation of the alkyl halide with the amino sulfonate salt may be separated from the reaction mixture and utilized directly as the final product, the compound resulting thereby containing the hydrophilic alkyl ammonium halide substituent which increases the solubility of the product as a whole in water. Alternatively, the alkyl ammonium halide product may be converted to an ammonium salt of a different mineral acid, such as the sulfate, nitrate or carbonate, thereby providing a product which is more highly soluble in water, by reacting the intermediate alkyl ammonium halide with the appropriate mineral acid, such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid, carbonic acid, etc.

Still another type of conversion reaction to which the above amino sulfonate intermediate product may be subjected in order to increase the solubility of the resulting product in water and increase the hydrophilic properties of the side chain attached to the cyclic hydrocarbon nucleus comprises condensing the amino sulfonate with a compound bearing multiple hydrophilic groups or with" ethylene oxide and'propylene oxide (preferably, ethylene oxide or an alpha-halohydroxy) to introduce a poly-(oxy- Y alkylene) chain into the compound by direct attachment tothe amino group,;in accordance with the following equation:

wherein z represents the number of oxyalkylene units entering into the condensation reaction or with glycidol to form hydrophilic chains on the amino nitrogen atom of the following structure:

.I to replace one or both of the amino hydrogen atoms. In most instances, from I, up to about 10 glycidol units are sufficient to form hydrophilic chains of the required water-solubilizing properties to form surface active agents.

The condensation of the amine with an alkylene oxide may be effected at temperatures of from 40 to about CQunder generally anhydrous conditions and usually in the presence of a basic condensation catalyst such as powdered sodium hydroxide, sodium methylate, sodium ethylate, pyridine or other basic catalyst which promotes the condensation reaction. The hydrophilic property 'of the resulting poly-(oxyalkylene) chain is dependent upon the number of moles of alkylene oxide charged to the condensation reaction per mole of amino sulfonate, and

generally the preferred products contain a total of from 5 to about 20 oxyalkylene units per mole, although longer poly-(oxyalkylene) chains may be desired for certain purposes, containing, for example, up to about 50 oxyalkylene units. Anotherclass of reagents suitable. for introducing an w-hydroxy-oxyalkylene or a poly-(oxyalkylene) chain hydroxypropane) usually in the presence of an alkaline v condensing agent which promotes the condensation. A more hydrophilic group may be introduced into the compound by condensing the amino group with an alpha-halosubstituted derivative of a polyalkylene glycol, which may be illustrated by the following formula for a chlorohydrin derivative of a polyalkylene glycol containing from 2 to 3 carbon atoms per alkylene group, wherein n is a whole number having a value of from 1 to about 9:

2)2-3 2)2-3 n these halohydrins also being known as the alpha-haloomega-hydroxy-poly-(oxyalkylene) -alkanes. uct of the reaction is generally a tertiary amine containing two poly-(oxyalkylene) chains per molecule, formed by the condensation of the halohydrin derivative of the poly- (oxyalkylene) glycol with each of the amino hydrogen atoms. The terminal hydroxyl group at the end of the poly-(oxyalkylene) chain may be further reacted with an esterifying agent, such as sulfuric acid, to form the sulfate ester of such hydroxyl group, the product generally being more highly water-soluble than the compound containing the free hydroxyl group.

Gther hydroxyl-substituted compounds may also be condensed with the terminal amino group of the amino The prodsulfonateintermediate to introduce other hydrophilic groups into the structure of the compound, such asacarbohydrate, including such typical members; of this group as glucose, sucrose, f ructoseetc,.inositolj pentaeryth ritol, polyhydric phenols such as resorcinol and others.

The latter products containing hydrophilic poly-(oxyalkylene): groups or other hydrophilic compounds containing multiple hydroxylradicals; are generally of waxlikecharacteristics having mucilaginous properties when lathered' with water and thus havev many of the charac-v teristics ofsoap; g V j The present invention in several? of" itsspecific" embodi V ments may be-further illustrated inthefollowing examples: which illustrate various aspects of the'invention', butarenot intended to restrict the generally broad scope of the invention necessarily inaccordancetherewith.

EXAMPLE I A product. having detergent qualities isfprepared. in accordance with. the following. series or reaction steps, the productbeing. a salt-like. material, soluble in water at all'concentrations usually employed for. laundering pur-- poses..

Two alkylbenzcne hydrocarbons, were. prepared, in a preliminary process by alkyla'ting. benzene; in one reactionand toluene inv another reaction with the l70-22S C. fraction of a propylene polymer product (containing;

C C and C olefins), utilizinganaromatic, to olefin molar'ratio. of. 10, at temperature of, 30-40" C. and a 98.5% sulfuric acid catalyst in-aratioofv catalyst to total miited hydrocarbon feed of. 0.2. The alkylatefractions were separated fromthe total hydrocarbon product by; distillationat 10 mm. Hg pressure,. the: toluene alkylate having a boiling rangeat 760 mm. of 275345- C., while the benzene alkylate boiled from 270 to- 325 C. at 760 mm. pressures.

The above alkylates are converted to their corresponding aldehyde derivatives by reacting the hydrocarbons with a mixture ofcarbon monoxide and dry hydrogenichloride gases at a temperature of. from 30 to 40 C., inthe presence of anhydrous aluminumv chloride catalyst (1 lb./100'-1bs. of alkylate) and at a pressure of 10,000 p. s. i.

gage, the. aldehydes beingseparated from the unreacted I hydrocarbons by distillation at 3 mm. pressure. The aldehyde products in eachinstance readily undergooxidation. with aqueous potassium; permanganate solution to yield thev corresponding acids having, acid numbers equal to the theoretical alkylbenzoic acid and alkyltoluic acid derived from, such aldehydes.

Nitromethane condenses with. the aldehyde, derivatives prepared. as indicatedabove to yield the nitroalcohols corresponding to the following structural formulae and in accordance with the following equations, the resulting nitroalcohols undergoing dehydration during distillation thereof or in the presence of a chemical dehydrating agent such as phosphorous pentoxide, potassium carbonate, etc. to form the corresponding nitro-vinylderivatives, also-in. accordance with the following equation, wherein n is equal to O for the benzene series and 1 for the toluene series:

OH'C CHaNO':

aldol ty-pe condensation reaction, dehydration to the nitrm vinyl derivatingbeing efiected'merely by heating the nitroaleohol; foe-example; bydistilling the intermediate alcohol in the purification of the product or byheating-thenitroalcoliol with a suflicient"quantity of phosphorous pentoxide-to convert the 1 theoretical quantity of water of dehydrationto phosphorie'acid. The aldol condensation of the initial aldehydeproduct.- With 'nitromethaneproceeds' readily withsubstantiallyquantitative yields in the L presence of caustic soda 10cm of- 30% caustic, per mole ofaldehyde) at 40 6., accompanied by stirring, the; causticbeingaddedtothe stirred-mixture of nitromethane andaldehyde: Followingthecondensation, the product,- dissolved in an equal volume of ether, is washedwith waterto remove-water-soluble catalyst and by-products;

the ether solution-dried=andevaporated, and the hydroxynitroethyl substituted alkyl aromaticderivative purified by-distillation. During the distillation at3 mm. Hgpressure, the product undergoesdehydration to form the nitrovinyl-alkyl aromatic product resulting fromthe dehydrocondensation of the nitrohydroxy ethyl radical. A bromine number-test on the product, as compared to the alkyl aromatic hydrocarbon starting material, indicates that the nitro-vinylderivative absorbs the theoretical quantity-of bromine-corresponding to-amono-olefinic side chain;

The nitro-viny-l substituted' alkyl'aromatic hydrocarbon is converted to the corresponding nitroethyl sulfonate derivative by'condensing the nitro-vinylintermediate with sodium bisulfite, Forthis purpose-'2 moles of sodium bisulfite in concentrated aqueous solution is' stirred With the nitro-vinyl derivative and'heated to a temperature of C; fon threehours. Evaporation'of the reaction mix ture yields a d'ried residue' comprising the desired sodium sulfonatederivative. The product in each case, that-is; both-the benzene andtoluenederivatives, have surface active properties. When tested for deter-gency inaccordancewithv the standard. Launder-O-Meten procedure, utilizing-- a 03% aqueous solution oftherespectiveproductsandia- O.3 aqueous solution of sodiumdod'ecylbenzene sulfonate as: a basis of comparison, under otherwise similar test conditions, the sodium dodecylbenzene-nitroethyl-sul fonatehas a detergency of. 121% of sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, while the sodiumdodecyltoluene-nitroethyl-sulfonate has-a-detergency of 118% that-of sodium' dodecylbenzene sulfonate. Y

The nitroethyl sulfonate products prepared-asindicated above may be hydrogenated by reacting the same-with hydrogen at ZO atrnospheres pressurein an autoclave and in the presence of-0;l% of'a kieselguhr-supported nickel hydrogenation; catalyst at 70. C. Substantially quantita-- tive. conversion. of the nitro group. to an amino radical is obtainecljntheaboyeconversionas indicated. by the fact that the product dissolves completely in 2 N hydrochloric acid andvisp recipitated againasthe hydrochloride saltby' saturating the solutions with, hydrogen chloride.

The. hydrochloride salt. asprepared above is converted againto, the, amine, sulfonate by neutralizing an aqueous 6 c solution of" the hydrochloride salt to a pH of. 7 with an,

aqueous caustic soda solution, the amine sulfonate separatingias. a'salt by saturating the solution with sodium sulfate. 7

A detergent product having soap-like characteristics, in

that it exists at normal temperatures in the form of a waxlike material which dissolves readily-in water to produce an aqueous solution having mucilaginous properties, is formed by; condensing the amine sulfonate, prepared as indicated; above; with ethylene oxide, the condensation being: effccte-dt-by-charging the. amine sulfonate and the desiredmolar; ratio ojgethylene oxideinto a pressure auto-. clave, with, about; 1% 1231 vweight; of; pyridine. ascatalyst, based upon he eight of; amine S lta ate; cha g d. nd maintaining, the; reaction, mixture, at at temperature of;

about ,70."v C, for 3,, hours. The. autoclave.isrotateddurs.

ing the course of'the reaction. In the following runs, 2, 6',

10, 12, 18 and 22 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of amine sulfonate are reacted at the above reaction conditions, utilizing both the dodecylbenzene derivative and the dodecyltoluene derivative in separate runs.

The products when tested for detergency by comparison with sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate at equal concentrations and under similar test conditions, indicate that the detergencies of the products increase as the chain length of the poly-(oxyethylene) chain increases, up to a total of 12 oxyethylene units per molecule, the product of maximum detergent effectiveness being the dodecylbenzene-derived product which has a detergency equal to 142% of dodecylbenzene sulfonate. As the number of oxyethylene units, per molecule in the product increases, the resulting product becomes a harder wax-like material of higher softening point and greater water-solubility. The products containing a total of 2 and 6 oxyethylene units per molecule are semi-crystalline in character and are more highly effective as detergents than the product containing no oxyethylene chain. The products containing more than 10 oxyethylene units per molecule, although of lesser efiectiveness as detergents than the product containing 10 units, are nevertheless highly elfective wetting agents.

Example 11 A diamylnaphthalene alkylate prepared by alkylating naphthalene with pentene-l is condensed with formaldehyde in the presence of hydrogen chloride by a procedure substantially similar to the reaction described in Example I, above. The resulting aldehyde is further condensed with nitromethane and the resulting nitroethyl-diamylnaphthalene converted to the corresponding nitrovinylsubstituted diamylnaphthalene by heating to a temperature of 125 C. As in the procedure of Example 1, above, the nitro-vinyl intermediate product condenses with sodium bisulfite to form the sodium diamylnaphthalenenitroethyl sulfonate salt which may similarly be reduced to the amine corresponding to the reduced nitro group of the preceding product. The nitroethyl intermediate prod uct is a wetting agent, although substantially ineffective as a detergent for cotton muslin. Its efiectiveness as a detergent, however, may be increased by condensing the amine sulfonate intermediate formed by hydrogen-reduction of the nitroethyl sulfonate intermediate with an alkylene oxide tothereby increase the size of the hydrophilic group in the resultant product. For this purpose, the amine sulfonate intermediate separated from the product of the hydrogenation reaction is condensed with glycidol in the presence of a basic condensation catalyst, which in this preparation is pyridine, present in the reaction mixture to the extent of 2% by weight of the amine sulfonate charged thereto.' The reaction is carried out by charging different proportions of glycidol to amine sulfonate in order to determine the optimum chain length of the resulting hydrophilic groups having the structure:

attached to the amino nitrogen atom. In the series of products prepared by this procedure 1, 2, 3 and 4 molar proportions of glycidol per mole of amine sulfonate are charged into a rotating pressure autoclave, with the pyridine catalyst, and the reaction mixture maintained at 80 C. for 3 hours as the autoclave is slowly rotated to mix the reactants. The products tend to acquire more wax-like properties and greater water-solubility as the number of hydrophilic units in the poly glycidol chain increase, the products of the condensation reaction yielding clear aqueous solutions as the number of glycidol units in the chain increases. The product of maximum detergency (128% of dodecylbenzene sulfonate) contains approximately 4 glycidol monomer units per molecule, as indicated by cryoscopic molecular weight determinations.

I claim as my invention: A

l. A compound having the structural formula wherein Ar is a polyvalent aromatic hydrocarbon radical selected from the monoand dinuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, R is an alkyl group containing from 5 to about 9 carbon atoms when Ar is bicyclic and from 8 to about 18 carbon atoms when Ar is monocyclic, R is a short chain alkyl group containing from 1 to 2 carbon atoms per group, n is a small whole number having a value of from 0 to 2, R is a radical selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl containing from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, X is a radical selected from the group consisting of nitro, amino, w-hydroxy-(alkylene-oxy)-amino, containing from 1 to about 20 oxyalkylene units per radical of which the alkylene group contains from 2 to 3 carbon atoms, and alkyl amino containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms per alkyl group, and M is an electro-positive ion selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, alkali metal, and ammonium radicals.

2. A dodecylphenyl nitroethyl sulfonate.

3. A dodecyltolyl nitroethyl sulfonate;

4. Diamylnaphthyl nitroethyl sulfonate.

5. A compound having the structural formula wherein Ar is a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon radical, R is an alkyl group of from about 9 to about 15 carbon atoms, R is an alkyl group of from 1 to 2 carbon atoms, n is a Whole number having a value of from 0 to 2, M is an alkali metal, and X is a radical selected from the group consisting of nitro, amino, w-hydroxy-(alkylene-oxy)- amino, containing from 1 to about 20 oxyalkylene units per radical of which the alkylene group contains from 2 to 3 carbon atoms, and alkyl amino containing from 1 to 6 carbon atoms per alkyl group.

6. A compound as defined in claim 5 further characterized in that X is nitro,

7. An alkyl phenyl nitroethyl sulfonate having from about 9 to about 15 carbon atoms in the alkyl group.

8. An alkyl tolyl nitroethyl sulfonate having from about 9 to about 15 carbon atoms in the alkyl group.

9. An alkyl aryl nitroethyl sulfonate having not more than 2 hydrocarbon rings in the aryl radical and having from 5 to about 15 carbon atoms in the alkyl group.

10. Sodium dodecylbenzene-nitroethyl sulfonate.

11. Sodium dodecyltoluene-nitroethyl sulfonate.

12. Sodium diamylnaphthalene-nitroethyl sulfonate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Ufer Dec. 28, 1937 Henke et al Apr. 23, 1940 OTHER REFERENCES 

1. A COMPOUND HAVING THE STRUCTUAL FORMULA 